Howard earl hoover



H. E. HOOVER. BRUSH SUPPORT FUR SUCTION CLEANERS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 29. 1917.

V 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 nl A,

Patented Deo. 9,1919.

l/L/l/ H. E. HOOVER.

BRUSH SUPPORT FOR sucloN CLEANERS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPTLZQ. 19H.

` Patented Deo. 9,1919.'

2 SHEETS-SHEET Z- fgg. 3,

SWEEPER COMPANY, OF NEW BERLIN, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF 0R10.

BRUSH-SUPPORT FOR SUCTION-CLEANERS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 9, i919..

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HOWARD EARL HoovER, a citizen of the United States, residin at Chicago, in the county of Cook and tate of Illinois, have invgepteda certain new andv useful Improvement in Brush-Supports for Suction-Cleaners, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in brush supports for suction cleaners and has for one object to provide a new and improved form of support whereby the brush of a suction cleaner may be removably and adjustably mounted in the open suction mouth. Another object is to provide means whereby the brush will be held during operation in such manner that. inadvertent and accidental changes inadjustment will be impossible. vide meanswhereby the brush may be easily and -conveniently adjusted when the operator desires tomake an adjustment. Another object is to provide means whereby the brush shaft is securely held in position during the operative period but4 can be easily removed when desired to permit the removal of the brush and its associated parts. Another, .object of my invention is to provide means wherebytherbrush can be adjusted without removing the brush shaft. Further objects of my invention will appear from time to time in the specification.

lt will understood that the power driven brush of my type of suction cleaner gradually wears away, that is, the ends of the bristles break and grind o'and from time to time the brush must be moved down toward the Hoor so that the bristles may be able to continue in contact with the floor and accomplish their purpose. My invention relates, therefore, among other 'things to means whereby the brush maybe held in proper position in the o en suction mouth and whereby it may be a justed toward and from the floor.

My invention is illustrated incre or less diagrammatically in the accompanying drawings wherelnz- Figure 1 is a section through a partI of i my suction cleaner showing the suction nozzle, brush and driving parts; l l

Fig. 2 is a section through one end of the suction hood with brush removed;

Fig. 3 is a section along the linel 3-3 of Fig. 2 with the brush in position5' Another object is to pro-y vjusting plate B1".

Fig. 4 is a similar section on the line ln-t of Fig. 2 looking in the direction of the arrows with the parts in the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. ,2 and the shaft partly removed;

' 5 is a detailed cross section;

Flg. 6 is a detail of a thread ard.

Like parts are indicated by like characters in all the figures.

A is a motor housing. It contains a motor armature A1 'driving a fan A2 in the fan chamber A3 which communicates with an open mouth suction hood A4, the open mouth of which is parallel with and adapted to be above the surface upon which the housing travels by means of wheels A5 A. A' is a pulley on the fan.

B is a beating and sweeping brush rotatably mounted in the open mouth hood on the shaft B? and it carries a pulley B2 over which travels a belt B2 driven by the pulley B2 are bearings in the ends of the hollow .brush body engaging the shaft and projecting slightly beyond the ends of the brush body. B5 are thread guards anged to overhang the ends of theA brush at B2 and provided with hubs B7 engaging the outwardly projecting ends of the bearing B4. Thus there is a clearance between the thread guards and the end of the brush all the way around. These thread guards are apertured at B2 in register with apertures B2 in the adjusting plates B1", B11.`

. The shaft B1 extends at either Vend slightly beyond the twothread guards. One end is cut away as lndlcated at C to engage a sub stantially semicircular hole C-1 in the ad- V The other end vof the shaft engages a circular hole C2 in the' adjusting plate B11 and is "in register witlra hole C12 in one of the swinging plates Cf. This arrangement holds the shaft against rotation when the parts are in operative osition but makes it possible to withdraw 1t through the holes C2 and Q12 when the parts are removed from the suction` mouth so as to disengage the brush and thread guards. These shaft ends ternriiy'nate".` short of theinterior surface of the housing. Each one of the plates B10, B11 is pivotally mounted on..A one of the swinging plates Cfwhich swinging plates are ivoted on the'end wall of the suction hoc The pivot point of the swlnging plate and the pivot point of each adjustmg plate is on t e side of the suction mouth toward the fan. The belt between the fan and fan pulleyV and brush pulley is rubber and under tension and tends .to exert a pressure yieldingly rotating ea'ch of the swinging plates C3 into the closed position thus holdmg the brush Vin the hood Aand making it diiicult to withdraw it until the belt is taken off the fan pulley. C5, C5 are indicating lines carried by the adjusting plates C3, C3l opposite the points C15 on the swinging platesl C? so asto indicate the position of the two adjusting plates B10, BL1 and enable the person who is making the adjustment to set them in the same relative position.

To limit the movement of each adjusting plate on its swinging plate and to enable,

tion with reference to the swinging plate.' `Thus by moving one adjustin plate to say the third indicating line and't len locking it in osition by the thumb nut an accurate position of the parts can be accomplished vbv in like manner moving the other adjusting plate tothe third line and then locking it 1n position. The limit of excursion of the adjusting plate is preferablv such that the brush can never be loweredvso far that the beltr will come into contact with the floor covering when it is drawn up against the suction mouth. l preferably place beneath the 4thumb nut a'lock washer C18. It will be observed that the line of tension exerted by the belt usually passes adjacent the pivot of the adjusting plate so that the lever arm through. which a force is exerted tendingto l rotate the adjusting plate out of position is Aet a short one and thus a slight resistance to movement is sufiicient to hold the adjusting plate in lposition on the swinging plate. The

two swinging plates C3 are apertured as at C12 in register with the ends of the .shaft and also in register with apertures B9 in the adjusting plates and apertures C in the housing whereb an air current is permitted to be drawn in rom the outside through the swinging plate, the adjusting plate, the

threadguard and across the end of the brush into the casin These apertures are arranged arcuate y as indicated and so positioned that no matter what the position of the adjusting plates these apertures will' always be open and they will always permit a free flow of air inwardly through the apertures and about the end of the brush. Cis a spacingr bar extending across betweenthe Athe brush shaft supporting mechanism. j' '"'On the bottom of the plate C3 are lateral flanges Cl`19 which underlie the edge of the tration of one line. lf desired, ofi* course,

rsa-aina swinging plate G3 located adjacent the forward boundary of the open mouth of the suction hood 'and adaptedA to space the parts in position and insure accurate alinement of caslng and serve as a stop to prevent the swinging and adjusting plates from moving too far into the casing and to also serve as a meansof attachment for the converter which is on occasionsapplied to the'inlet mouth of the suction cleaner.

On the threadguard B5 is 4a projecting pin B25 adapted to be fitted into the notch B26 on the adjusting plate. This device .is to prevent an tendency of the threadguard to rotate. he end of the shaft which projects into close proximity with the" inner wall of the end ofthe casing is preferably beveled so as to make it easy 'to insert the shaft in the openings in the adjusting and swinging plates.

It will be evident in my drawings -an operative device, still many changes might be made both in size, shape and arrangement of parts without departing materiall from the spirit of my invention and l wis therefore, that my drawings be regarded as in a sense diagrammatic.

The use and operation of my invention are as follows Starting with the parts in the full line position 1f the motor is driven the brush will be rotated. As the suction cleaner is used the power driven brush will graduallyy wear' away, the brush bristle endsl will become short andfinally a condition will be reached where the brush bristles are so short that they do not Yeffectively operate upon the floor covering. :It lbecomes necessary t6 lower the axis of rotation of the brush so as to bring the bristles into contact again. This is done by first throwing the belt 0H the brush pulley. This releases the tension which normally holds the brush frame in the open mou-th of the hood and the operator may then by seizing the bar extending across between the swinging plates rotate the assembly out of the mouth of the nozzle. He may then rotate the adjusting plate downwardly on the swinging plate preferably one line. Then the parts should be locked together by operating the thumb nut. The same operation should then take place at the other end of the brush, care being takeny to move'the two adjusting plates the same distance as for example inthe case Qrillusthat while I have shown the movement could be extended overtwo or more lines. In any event this adjustment will bring the brush nearer to the floor.y The parts are then swun back into position and the machine is rea y for use with the brush adjusted to a lower position. The la t' so as to permit the shifting of the adjusting .ingb

pla-tes.A The belt when placed in position tends to hold all the parts in operative relation. As previously suggested the swinging plates, adjusting plates and brush are prevented from passing too far into the casthe engagement of the flanges C19, C19 with the edge of the casing.

If for any reason as for example to put in a new belt 'it is desirable to disassemble or take down the parts this may be done when they are swung out in the position shown in Fig. 4 by removing the shaft which can be drawn outward in one direction only andwhen reinserted is held in position against rotation by the engagement of its non-circular inner end with the aperture in the adjustment plate. The shaft will be held in this position from longitudinal movement when the parts are in operative position lwithin the casing by the engagement of the end of the shaft with the wall in the end of the casing.

It will be noticed that the guard fingers as illustrated for example in Fig. 1 are placed substantially parallel with the floor or floor covering and in the plane of the lower part of the inlet mouth. This serves as an index to determine the degree ofadjustment required for the brush.

We have used the word removed as applied to the brush carrying frame. By this we shall of course be understood as including such a meaning as would permit the frame to be bodily removed or to be partially removed by being swung out of the mouth in position for manipulation.

'I claim: i

1. In a suction cleaner the combination of a hood Witha brush supporting frame removably mounted therein, a brush shaft mounted on the frame, a brush with a hollow body rotatably mounted on the shaft the frame' apertured to permit the endwise removal of the shaft to release the brush from'the frame.

2. In a suction cleaner the combination of a vhood with a brush supporting frame removably mounted therein, a brush shaft. mounted on the frame, a brush with a hollow body rotatably mounted on the shaft the frame apertured to permit the endwise removal of the shaft to release the brush from the frame, the parts proportioned so that the shaft is held from' longltudinal motion when the frame is within the hood.

3. In a suction cleaner the combination of a hood with a brush supporting frame removably mounted therein, a brush shaft -mounted on the frame, a brush with a hollow body rotatably mounted on the shaft the frame apertured to permitthe endwise removal of the shaft to release the brush from the-'frame and means for locking the shaft from rotation on. the frame.

4. In a suction cleaner the combination of a hood with a brush supporting frame removably mounted therein, a brush shaft mounted on the frame, a brush with a hollow body rotatably mounted on the shaft the frame apertured to permit the endwise removal of the shaft to release the brush from the frame and means for lockingthe shaft from rotation on the frame comprising a non-circular opening in the frame and a c0- acting portion of the shaft adapted to be received therein.

5. In a suction cleaner the combination of a hood with a brush supporting frame removably mounted therein, a brush shaft mounted on the frame, a brush with a hollow. body rotatably mounted on the shaft the frame apertured to permit the endwise removal of the shaft to release the brush from the frame and thread guard devices loosely mounted on the shaft between the ends .of the brush body and the supporting frame.

6. In a suction cleaner the combination of a hood with a brush supporting frame removably mounted therein, a brush shaft mounted on the frame, a brush with a hollow body rotatably mounted on the shaft the frame apertured to permit the endwise removal of the shaft to release the brush from the frame and thread guard devices loosely mounted on the shaft between the ends of the brush body and the supporting frame, and means for locking the thread guards against rotation.

7. In a suction cleaner the'combination of a hood with a brush carrying frame removably mounted in the hood and containing end parts and brush carrying parts adjustably mounted on the end parts and a brush mounted on the brush carrying parts.

8. In a suction cleaner the combination of a hood with a brush carrying frame'pivotally mounted in the hood and containing end parts and brush carrying parts adjustably mounted on the end parts and a brush mounted on the brush carrying parts.

In testimony whereof, I affix my signature in the presence of two witnessesthis 12th day of September 1917.

HOWARD EARL HOOVER.

Witnesses:

MINNIE M. LINDENAU. Marron L. INGRAHAM, 

